Bliss
by NightKDuet
Summary: "I heard your voice," Gaara stated, as he withdrew from her slightly and took her face in his hands. "I thought I lost you," he continued, as his voice fell into whisper. GaaHina
1. Chapter 1

**Bliss**

 **GxHxGxH**

There was a flash as everything moved in slow motion. He saw blue-haired kunoichi push the red-haired kid out of the way and was hit by the chakra-filled punch that shinobi delivered, originally intended for the child. His sand caught the child and shielded him, leaving him safely out of harm's way. At the same time, he saw her body flying out from the impact until she landed at some distance, her body limp.

There was an echo of "NO!" The child's scream was ringing in his ears. There was an anger erupting from somewhere deep within: dark, sinister feeling that he had known before. He could feel his hand twitch as his mind screamed for blood and death. There was roaring in his ears as sand violently circled around him. His blood was pumping and he was dizzy with anticipation, imagining a slow, painful death for the shinobi. He would pay for his deed.

Sand rushed to the offender, instantly trapping him and others. Sand was swirling all around him, deadly and fast, reflecting his anger. With the exception of one shinobi, he crushed the rest, causing blood to spurt out and drip on the ground.

"You _**dare**_ to lay your hand on her?" Gaara growled threateningly, bringing him closer, all the while sand rushed into the offender's mouth, causing him to gag and choke. "I'll give you a slow, painful death."

"Gaara!" There was a shout but it was lost in Gaara's ears.

"Temari, it's dangerous! Shit, get Ryuu out of here!"

He couldn't hear. All he could focus on was that he dared to hurt her and tried to hurt the child. He will pay. That was the only thought in his mind. He could feel blood pumping, sand hissing and swirling. He extended one of his arm and made a crushing motion, which led to shinobi's arms ending up in bloody mess.

' _Blood,_ ' the thought filled his mind. He gave a sinister smile as the shinobi had expression of unbearable pain in his face. He finished him off, burying him deep within the ground where he would never again see daylight.

Only death could satisfy him. His thirst for blood was awakened, which have lain dormant ever since Shukaku was extracted from him. His whole body shook from excitement to see blood painted across the sand.

"Gaara, please," a voice that would have been lost in the roaring of the sand was not lost to him. He tried to breathe, to calm his cry for blood. "Gaara." The violent sandstorm started to die down slowly as he heard his name repeatedly. He closed his eyes and focused on her voice as the roaring died down in his ears and anger washed down by the thought that she was still here…alive. Gaara appeared by her side in a second, as he kneeled over and settled his hand on her face.

"For god's sake! That was a complete, utter overkill," Kankuro said, as he came up with the red-haired child, who had tears running down his face. When he saw Hinata, he immediately jumped down to latch onto her.

Temari sighed beside him. "We'll talk later."

Gaara didn't pay attention, as he directly looked at Hinata, "I'm going to get you two to the hospital."

 **GxHxGxH**

"Ryuu," Hinata said, as she tried to appease the crying kid. "I'm sorry."

She was sitting in the hospital bed with the 6-year-old crying silently on her shoulder. "I-I thought y-you're going to-" he said shakily in his usual quiet voice. She made a circular motion with her hand on his back, trying to soothe him.

She had summoned chakra at the very last second to try to minimize the impact, which did block any severe internal damage that would have been fatal.

"Ryuu-kun it's okay, no need to cry anymore," Hinata smiled, as she wondered if this was the same child who was mostly inexpressive just like his father. "Mommy is okay."

"I-I know, b-but-" Ryuu said, as his eyes let out more fresh tears. She wiped the tears off his face with her hands.

"Mommy wanted to protect Ryuu-kun because she loves him more than anything else in the world," Hinata said, as she looked at his turquoise colored eyes. "When Ryuu-kun grows up, he can protect mommy because I know you love mommy more than anything else."

He stayed still and listened quietly. "Okay," Ryuu said, as he tried to wipe the remaining tears with his two hands. "I'm going to train hard. I'm going to be a strong shinobi," he said, determinedly.

"Okay," Hinata said, as she kissed his cheek. "Mommy loves you no matter what."

She heard the door sliding and she saw Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara come in, each wearing different face expression. Temari looked stressed, Kankuro looked like he was having a fit, and Gaara just looked at her, mostly expressionless except for underlying concern in his eyes.

"You're going to need to rest for at least 2 weeks," Temari said as she looked at Hinata. "How do you feel?"

"I feel mostly okay," Hinata said, as she smiled at Ryuu. She didn't want to worry the child any more than necessary. "Ryuu will come visit, right?"

"By the look of it, I thought she was dy-" Before Kankuro could finish his sentence, Temari smacked him on the head. "OWW, what?"

Temari looked pointedly at Ryuu. "Oh," Kankuro realized as he saw Ryuu's eyes filling up with tears. There was a brief look of panic. "Umm, now, now, Uncle Kankuro could show you some of puppet tricks outside if you want. Want to see?"

Ryuu nodded his head vigorously. Temari looked at Gaara, "You're going to need to make a report and call for a meeting," she said as she saw him nod absentmindedly while staring at Hinata. "I'm going to get started on the investigations right away."

As the three of them made their exit, the room fell into silence. She saw Gaara sit on the bed and face her. She saw worry reflected in his eyes and gave a reassuring smile. "I'm okay."

She saw him grab her hand and squeeze as he closed his eyes and sighed. "I… almost lost control." He heard a slight rustling of sheet and arms enveloping in a light hug.

"You didn't though," Hinata whispered as he pulled her closer and breathed in her scent. He finally felt all his worries dissipating as he hugged her tighter and felt tiredness seeping in. "You didn't give in."

"I heard your voice," Gaara stated, as he withdrew from her slightly and took her face in his hands. "I thought I lost you," he continued, as his voice fell into whisper.

Hinata's eyes widened at the shakiness of his voice. He rarely, if ever, displayed emotions so openly. "Gaara," she said as she brought her hand to his face. "I'm sorry…for worrying you."

He brought her head closer. "I…love you," he said in an almost child-like desperation, which made her cheeks flush and her heart hammer in her chest. "Don't leave," he almost pleaded. Here was Gaara, Kazekage of Sunagakure, sitting beside her and putting himself in a vulnerable position willingly. But to her, he was just Gaara, her husband and life-long companion. She never thought they would end up like this when she first agreed to marry him in an arranged marriage. Never would she have imagined that they could make this work. "I promise I will protect you," Gaara stated, as he gazed at her with love-filled eyes that was unmistakable. "Just don't leave." His voice was in a hush.

It brought tears to her eyes at just how much loved she was by this man; man was once lost in darkness. But he had changed, rather dramatically. She brought her lips to his and kissed him. He automatically leaned in, supporting her head with his hand, deepening the kiss.

She withdrew slightly and slowly looked up at him, her white eyes gazing deep into his aquamarine eyes. She brought her hand to touch his cheek lightly. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right here."

Gaara's lips formed a small, genuine smile as he buried his head in her shoulder and heard her whisper in his ears.

' _I love you._ '

 **GxHxGxH**

 **-NightKDuet**


	2. Chapter 2

Bliss: Chapter 2

Prequel to Chapter 1

 **GxHxGxH**

After few days of living in Suna, she decided that her favorite place was the library. She relaxed as she saw rows of scrolls and books, knowing that many held stories of lives of other people, numerous wonders of the world, and countless information about anything and everything. The library was also located in a relatively remote place with sun shining down the tinted window to illuminate the big room.

She stepped up on the ladder and pulled out a book on the history of Suna and sifted through the pages. With the whispers of wind hitting the window pane, the aroma of tea in front of her, and the firmness of book in her hand, and the feeling of being elevated up on the ladder made her feel like she was in another world, that she could just hide away and nobody would be able to find her.

"What are you doing?" A voice startled her out of her thoughts and she tried not to show her surprise by looking up slowly.

"Kazeka-" Hinata stopped herself before remembering what he had told her earlier. "Gaara." He was in the doorway with his arms crossed, looking at her with a blank face expression. Then she took a second to process what he had just said and berated herself for possibly looking like a fool.

"I'm…reading a book on history of S-Suna," Hinata said as she tried not to stumble on her words. She gripped the book in her hands tightly, trying not to look down. He stood there looking at her and didn't move, which was making her feel very uncomfortable.

"I hope," she swallowed. "I'm not bothering you… I can leave, i-if you like." Curse her shyness and awkwardness.

She saw Gaara shake his head slightly. "Stay," he stated, adamantly. "You are not a bother."

"Thank you," Hinata whispered, a small blush rising to her face. Spontaneously, out of nowhere, she blurted out. "Would you care to join me?" She tried not to wring her hands. "T-That is," she hesitated. "If you're not…busy."

Hinata saw that Gaara's look changed to a small look of surprise but it was so fleeting, she thought maybe it was the trick of the sunlight. Instead of answering, he backed out and left. She sighed, looking down dejectedly, wondering if she did something to offend him. But not few seconds had passed, when she heard a sound of quiet footsteps making their way. She looked up to see Gaara with scrolls in his hands that weren't there before.

She saw him glance at her briefly before settling down on the couch, unwrapping it on the table. She tried to hide her smile behind the teacup as she sipped.

Soon, it became a routine for them. He would join her in the library in the early morning or late afternoon whenever he didn't have immediate duty to attend to and attendants learned to deliver all the messages during that specified time not to his office but to the library where they would see Hinata perched up on the ladder reading while Gaara sat on the couch with a mountain of paperwork.

Hinata looked up as several men carried something heavy in through the door with Gaara behind them. Hinata gave a questioning glance toward his way as a big desk was carried in along with a chair.

"It's more comfortable," Gaara stated, nonchalantly, as he ordered the couch to be moved to the side and the desk to be placed where the couch was.

"Oh," Hinata said simply, looking down. She felt warmth spreading through her as she saw him sit with satisfied look on his face and got back to his paperwork.

 **GxHxGxH**

"Gaara?" In the darkness, she tried to see his face but his face was turned the other way. But she could see that his body was tense and twitching. He looked like he was in pain, probably having a nightmare.

"Gaara," Hinata called his name quietly as she shook him slightly. In a flash, her back was on the bed with him looking down on her, his hands gripped her shoulder violently. She tried not to cry out in pain. His body was heaving and he looked like he was short of breath. He had a faraway look, his eyes looking at her in anger but not really trained on her.

Hinata struggled helplessly, as his grip tightened. "Gaara," she said, pleadingly. "Please." She tried to soothe him. Her hands came up to cover the top of his hands, to try to gently pry it out. "Please, wake up."

Slowly, Gaara's pupils narrowed to focus on her as if he was waking up out of a trance. She could see that he was coming back to reality. He looked at her in confusion before his hands slowly loosened up. He looked to be in shock. His right hand came up toward her face but stopped in midair.

Without another thought, she did the only thing that she could think of, which was to wrap her arms slightly around his torso so that her hands barely reached his back and patted him. She didn't expect for him to crumble, crushing her body with his whole weight, which made all the breath go out from her lungs in shock.

She stayed there for a second trying to process but her body moved before her mind, her arms coming up to embrace him fully. She could feel his breath on her neck returning to their normal pace. She felt his hands nudging into her sides to envelop her in a tight hug.

Gaara's heart was beating fast, still recovering from the shock, but he slowly calmed down, , the gentle touch of her hand and her soothing scent calming him. Gaara didn't tell her that he dreamt of her getting killed, with blood pooling around her body. It scared him, there was some unsettling, deep-seated fear within him. It was clear that he was growing attached to Hinata, which would explain indecipherable emotions that came up sometimes when she was near.

"It…," Hinata started, breaking the silence, her voice ringing in his chest. "…must have been a bad dream." Gaara's thought settled on possibility of what life would be like without her. Library would never again be occupied, her calming presence would be replaced by emptiness, he would never feel her small hand slipping in his hand or sliding on his elbow, her smile and caring gestures would all be gone. His life would be much emptier than what it was before.

The room was filled with silence as they stayed that way and Gaara held on, listening to her breathing, glad that she was still alive. For some reason, he wanted to keep hearing her voice and feel the vibrations from her to him.

"I sometimes have nightmares from time to time," Gaara said, as he buried his head deeper into the crook of her neck, his other hand coming up to feel the pulse on her neck, to make sure that she was still breathing. If she thought his action was weird, she didn't say anything.

"Oh, I see," Hinata said, soothingly. "Think you can go back to sleep?" She gently laid her palms flat on his back. Her gestures and actions were comforting. Feeling her hands on his back felt good and being able to hug her like he was doing felt even better. He was practically surrounding himself with her scent.

"I don't know," Gaara answered back, tiredly. He focused on her even breathing. On each exhale, it sent hot breaths to his forehead, which sent weird emotion shooting down his body.

There was a slight shift in her body. "I can get some water for you?" He reluctantly rolled off and let her go while she sat on the bed and reached the pitcher sitting on the nightstand with the cup. She handed him the cup, which he took it right away, downing it. She was sitting on the bed with only a thin gown on, looking at him worriedly, while he stared back with an expressionless face. She thought for a second. "Maybe tea would help? To relax, I mean."

"No, it's fine," Gaara refused politely. "I would rather…go back to sleep." Gaara stared at her small hands, wanting to feel their warmth again. His mouth went dry and his head was pounding as she slowly made her way, crawling on the bed, to sit in front of him.

Her eyes gazed deeply at him. "Are you sure you are alright?" There was concern in her voice. She put her cool hand in his forehead. "Maybe you're getting sick."

He closed his eyes, feeling her soft skin on his forehead. He heard himself say, "No."

He felt Hinata's hand leave his forehead and he was almost tempted to snatch it back and demand that she leave it where it was but he stayed put. "Maybe I can try to help? I know some medical jutsu and maybe it will help you relax a bit."

He nodded and proceeded to lie down. She gently laid his head on her lap while she leaned her back to the headboard and her hands started glowing green while she touched his temple. It felt as cool as her touch and he could feel tiredness seeping into his body. As more of her chakra flooded into him, he felt his body relax greatly and his eyelids started to grow heavier. He soon fell into heavy slumber, the last thing he saw were her moonlit white eyes glowing kindly toward him.

 **GxHxGxH**

Hinata was walking across hallway with a book in her hand, intending to read in her room, when she heard a familiar voice coming from inside Gaara's office. She opened the door and sure enough, Naruto was there.

But before she could give out a proper greeting, she was swept up in his arms and spun around. "Hinata! It's so good to see you."

It was very unexpected and because she was spun around so quickly, it took her a second to regain her balance, leaning on Naruto's arm for support. She smiled as she gave a friendly, light hug back before she broke out of his grip. "It's good to see you too."

"How is life in Suna treating you?" Naruto asked, as he gave his trademark smile and looked back and forth between Gaara and her, his eyes crinkling in excitement.

"Very well," Hinata said as she smiled back and glanced briefly back at Gaara, who was sitting on his desk with his arms crossed, a blank expression on his face but there was a slight strain in his eyes.

"That's good to hear," Naruto responded as he looked back at Gaara. He scratched his head sheepishly. "Well, I would like to stay a bit longer, but I need to get back to Konoha. Kakashi-sensei said this was urgent so I hope you don't mind." Naruto looked at Hinata apologetically.

"Of course," Hinata said, her lips forming a wide smile. "Come visit us anytime." Her voice rang with sincerity as Naruto's boisterous presence left the office. Silence immediately settled into the room.

Hinata turned toward the direction of the desk and walked to where he was sitting. "Do you need anything?" She could see that his shoulders were tense and he was just looking straight ahead.

"Headache?" Hinata asked as Gaara slowly nodded. Hinata hesitated, "Do you… want to lie down? I can perhaps ease it a bit." Hinata lightly grabbed his arm and made him lay down on the couch with his head in her lap. She started massaging his scalp as her hand started to glow green. Hinata was a bit unnerved at Gaara's unwavering gaze and just tried to focus on the task on hand. He seemed to be bothered by something.

"Naruto," Gaara stated as his eyes met hers. "He said he will bring Sakura, Kiba, and Shino for a visit next time."

She smiled at him. "That would be nice," Hinata said, as she absentmindedly smoothed out his red hair. "Did Naruto-kun say anything about how Sakura-chan is doing?" She asked him with a worried look on her face. "I hope she's not working too hard with a baby coming."

She saw Gaara's face relax a bit with a pleased expression. They stayed like that for a while as Hinata thought of having a baby of her own someday. She did want to have children. She was startled when she felt him turn to face her side and bury his face in her stomach. She briefly wondered what her child with Gaara would look like and did her best to try to keep her oncoming blush down.

 **GxHxGxH**

"I'm-"

"Sorry." Hinata stepped back in surprise as her word was snatched out of her mouth.

Gaara was the first to break the gaze and look to the side. "I didn't know you were going to be upset. You should've told me you wanted to go."

Hinata gave into the urge to smile in spite of the seriousness in the atmosphere. He almost looked like he was pouting but she wasn't going to tell him that. "I'm not," she cleared her throat as she met his eyes. "I'm not upset. I could go visit Konoha some other time. I was going to apologize for Kiba's…words. I mean, he can be a bit overprotective, so I thought," she paused as she lowered her gaze to the ground. "I thought that might have made you upset."

"Oh," Gaara said, simply, as realization dawned on him. There was a long silence before his voice changed slightly. It was less anger and more amusement. "He did have some… creative threats."

Hinata blushed, biting her lips in nervousness, nodding. She remembered the horrified, sinking feeling that she had when she heard Kiba saying all those words. "Yes, I'm sorry."

Gaara cleared his throat. "I will arrange for you to visit Konoha sometime next week," Gaara stated, which made Hinata whip her head up quickly in surprise.

She smiled widely, her whole countenance brightening. "Really?"

It made Gaara wonder why he didn't bring this up sooner and he is glad that he did because the next thing he knew, he was enveloped in a warm hug, waft of vanilla in his nose, as her arms came around to hug him. This was one of the few times that she hugged him out of her own will.

His arms came around to return her hug, her soft body fitting right in. Her words echoed his thought. "I'm glad." He kissed the top of her head almost imperceptibly.

 **GxHxGxH**

"Umm…" Hinata looked down at Gaara as she stood in the ladder midway. He was holding out his two hands upward toward her as if to help her down. She thought it odd but she didn't hesitate and turned around to grab both of his hands with hers. She slowly descended down one step at a time until at the last two step, when he suddenly pulled her hands to put them on each of his shoulder while he stepped forward to grab the ladder behind her.

She froze, her eyes widening to see his face so close that their noses were inches apart. She tried to step back but the ladder behind her blocked her. Her heart was beating too fast for comfort and she could feel her face heating up.

Mouth dry, she stared into his eyes, which was filled with confusion, curiosity, longing, and many others. She felt herself getting light-headed as his head drew closer to hers. She panicked. Thoughts were going through her head too fast. She closed her eyes, still not being able to form any coherent thought, as she felt his breath on her lips.

Each second felt agonizing until their lips finally touched. His lips were warm and soft. As he pressed her lips, she hesitated for a second before she pressed back. He didn't push her any further than that and withdrew slightly, looking deep into her eyes, to try to discern what she was feeling.

There was a brief look of worry in his eyes as if he was afraid that he had crossed a line. She tried to calm herself, reminding herself that he was very gentle, and her hand reached for his cheek, her thumb caressing his skin delicately, conveying that she was okay with it. He closed his eyes as he felt her hand ghosting his skin.

"It's surprising," he whispered as he opened his eyes and gazed at her with intensity that made her heart drum and blood rush to her head. "I like…making you happy. I like seeing your smile." His voice was low and quiet as one of his hands weaved to the back of her head. Shock was evidence in her face expression. "Your presence is…calming."

"Oh," she said, her hand staying frozen in his cheek. She swallowed hard as he continued talking.

"I like," he hesitated longer. "Being near you…I think…like this."

She didn't really trust her voice but she could feel her lips rising up to give him a genuine smile of happiness. He cared about her and he liked her presence. That was more than she could have asked for when she had agreed to marry him in the first place. She brought her other hand to his face and this time, she drew closer, their noses touching. She saw his eyes widen a fraction in surprise.

"Thank you," Hinata whispered, her eyes half-lidded and stared at him tenderly. "I'm really happy."

Without a warning, he captured her lips again, kissing her more fervently than before. They stayed in the library later than usual.

 **GxHxGxH**

Gaara felt his eye twitch and his hand clench involuntarily. "Damn," Kankuro said, beside him, leaning against the wall, looking warily at his fuming brother. "I think you should stop with the murderous glare." Gaara looked pointedly at his brother as his eyes turned to him challengingly. "Gaara, you need to _relax_. Remember, Temari said to be courteous and friendly, not scare the hell out of people."

' _Or she will have my head…._ ' Kankuro shuddered, thinking of many torturous ways that the yellow-haired demoness would find to make his life a living hell.

"I'm not scaring anyone," Gaara shot back, as he turned to look back at the scene unfolding before his eyes.

"Look, the one you're trying to scare isn't even looking this way," the puppet master sighed, looking at Hinata talking with one of the higher officials, feeling a killer headache coming on. Hinata was clearly uncomfortable as the man leaned a little closer but did the best to not let it show, smiling politely and carrying on with the conversation.

"He is making Hinata uncomfortable," Gaara stated, as his eyes turned deadly, when he saw the man extend his hand, expecting her to place her hand on top, which she reluctantly did. He was talking excitedly about something pointing at her hand. It was probably to talk about jewelry of some sort.

Kankuro resisted the urge to roll his eyes and muttered, "Obviously, that man has a death wish." Kankuro massaged his scalp. "But you _**cannot**_ act rash."

Gaara silently got off the wall in the dark corner of the room, intending to walk toward the direction where Hinata was standing. People probably didn't even notice that they were there. Kankuro quickly grabbed his shoulder.

"Hinata can take care of herself. If anything, she will be upset if you get violent," Kankuro muttered. "You don't want that." He saw Gaara stop after taking a few steps. After letting out a small sigh, Gaara turned back and forced himself to lean back to where he was before, which made Kankuro smirk. Gaara's irritation, though, slowly was replaced with indifference as grains of sand started to move around their feet, not enough to be noticeable for other people especially those who were not shinobi.

"Gaara!" Kankuro hissed, glaring at his brother.

"Watch," Gaara smirked as the man started coughing. Hinata looked at the man in surprise and stepped back while he coughed, his face getting redder by minute.

He saw Hinata look down and whip her head in his direction, looking at him with unreadable expression. She gave him a questioning glance and he shrugged while looking away, retracting his sand.

Kankuro sighed, saying something about his brother shortening his lifespan. Gaara ignored his brother and saw that the man was excusing himself. After he had left, Hinata made her way silently over to where Gaara was. People greeted her as she passed by, her movements ever so graceful and fluid.

When she came to stand in front of him, she tilted her head quizzically at him. In response, the grains of sand swirled around at her feet, turning her around slightly so that their hands touched briefly before he slipped his warm hand in hers and squeezed.

"Well shit," Kankuro said, as he relaxed his stance, looking out to the crowd. "Problem solved. No damage done. You did good, Kankuro." He patted himself.

Hinata covered her lips to hide her smile. Amusement danced in his eyes as she squeezed back. 

That night, Hinata was sitting on the stool connected to the windowsill in their large bedroom, enjoying the view of sand twirling and dancing with the wind under the moonlight. She heard the rustling of fabric as she saw him sitting on the opposite side of the stool to look at her.

She turned back to look at the scenery. "It's beautiful."

Gaara briefly looked at the scenery and looked back at his wife, moonlight illuminating her soft skin, giving it a ethereal glow with her white eyes sparkling and her soft, pink lips forming a smile that was captivating. "Yes."

She felt herself being pulled to his side. His back was toward the window so that he was facing her and she let herself be pulled closer. She was nervous and felt a blush coming on, but she kept still as their legs came to touch and he brought his face closer.

He watched for any signs of rejection but she continued to stay still even though her face was getting more flushed, which made her all the more attractive to him. They lips met in a slow, sweet kiss that was intoxicating. The more she responded, the more heated it became. She tasted so sweet that he was left with wanting more. Soon they were left breathless and had to break apart.

It was at moments like this when Gaara felt his heart constrict with new emotions, muddling up his mind, leaving him with thoughts filled about her. Countless times, he thought of doing this but didn't want to push her. He didn't have too much knowledge especially when it came to relationships. He was still struggling to discern emotions that didn't involve hatred and indifference. But he wanted to learn, learn how to please her and make her happy. Tonight, she looked so beautiful basking in the moonlight and he listened to what his heart told him to do.

While she didn't know what to make of his attention, looking flustered under his gaze, Gaara thought back to his conversation with his brother few hours ago.

 _Kankuro was looking at him with amusement, which Gaara did not like. But he stood his ground, knowing it was for her. Amusement, though, was slowly replaced by more of serious tone. 'I think that you do love her.' He felt his brother pat his shoulder, encouragingly, and giving him a small smile. 'Tell her she's beautiful and that you love her. You got to express it, Gaara. Just feeling it, won't cut it.'_

"Hinata." His voice was low and soothing. "You," he paused, and she could see that he was hesitating and a hint of nervousness in his eyes, which was unusual. "Look beautiful."

He saw Hinata's eyes widen in shock, her mouth slightly gaping at him. Before he lost all his nerve, he finished what he wanted to say. "And I…love you."

Hinata's eyes watered without meaning to. She saw a brief look of panic flash in his eyes. She repeated his words over and over in her mind and her lips widened into a smile that told him of her joy at his words. She brought her hands to his face and looked deep into his eyes and saw that he was sincere and he meant it.

This time, she slowly brought his face forward and gave him a small kiss. She took a deep breath before saying, "I love you too."

There was a pause before Hinata saw transformation on Gaara's face. Joy was visible in his eyes and his lips curved to form a smile just for her.

 **GxHxGxH**

"Good afternoon, nice day, isn't it?" a middle-aged woman greeted with a bow as Hinata passed by.

The soon-to-be mother smiled with her eyes sparkling, turning to greet the woman. "Yes, indeed."

Villager's eyes settled on her rounded midriff worriedly. "Should you be walking - " the woman stopped in mid-sentence and she immediately saw someone appear beside her. "Kazekage-sama," she gave a deep bow.

Hinata looked to the side to see her husband who looked displeased. But nonetheless, he gave a short nod to the woman and grabbed her arm, guiding her back to where she was walking from without saying anything.

"B-But Gaara, I wanted to buy some tea," Hinata said, quietly to her husband, trying to resist feebly. "And get some fresh air." She looked back slightly, seeing that her destination was not that far off, lamenting the fact that she had been so close and now it was unreachable.

Gaara's frown deepened, as he continued to guide her. "Doctor said no strenuous activity," he shot back, matter-of-factly.

Hinata had no choice but to walk back to the same path that she was walking just minutes before. She stopped as her eyebrows knit in confusion. "Don't you…have something important this afternoon? I thought Kirigakure representatives were coming."

Gaara did not respond and just looked at her. Hinata's eyes widened. "Oh no, oh no," Hinata panicked as she broke out of his grip and grabbed his hand. "Temari is going to be so mad."

He just followed as she started to walk faster. "You weren't where you usually were," Gaara stated as he tightened his hand on her and pulled slightly, trying to slow her down. Hinata had no time to be embarrassed as the villagers gave them a smile as they passed by, hand-in-hand; it was a rare sight to see.

Soon enough, they saw fuming a yellow-haired kunoichi emerging. " _ **Gaara**_ ," her voice was low and threatening as she dragged out his name. She had a murderous glare on her face. Hinata tried to hide behind her husband, not wanting to be at the receiving end of her infamous anger. "You are _**well**_ aware of the fact that you have people waiting at your office?" Temari's veins popped out from her forehead.

"I told them I had an urgent family matter to attend to," Gaara replied, blandly.

Hinata saw that Temari was resisting from smacking her forehead with her hand. "Family matter that involves picking up Hinata who is _**perfectly**_ capable of walking by herself?!" Her voice was piercing and loud, causing Hinata to flinch.

"You're scaring Hinata," Gaara simply said, unfazed by her sister's display of anger, as he stepped in front of Hinata in a protective gesture.

Temari was glowering, her face red from anger. "Hinata, _**please**_ tell your _**husband**_ to get himself to where he is supposed to be, or _**else**_ …" Really, all Hinata could do was try not to cower under the ferocious look that she was giving.

"Gaara, please go," Hinata said, as she pushed him forward. Gaara looked back at her with a frown, intending to refuse. "I promise I will go back to the library, just go, please" Hinata tried to plead with him. Gaara didn't move. Temari was turning back, stomping her way back into the tower, muttering darkly. Hinata looked back at Gaara, who still stood unmoving.

Hinata bit her lips as she took her husband's face in her hands gently. She looked deep into his eyes that she has come to love. "You worry too much," she whispered.

She saw Gaara sigh, looking defeated. He surprised her when he leaned forward and gave a short, chaste kiss on her lips, giving her a tender look before disappearing to where Temari went.

 **GxHxGxH**

"Gaara, give me the damn mission," Temari stood in front of his desk with her arms crossed. Gaara briefly glanced at his sister in curiosity. "I cannot take any more of your tantrums."

He stopped reading before giving her a questioning glance. "Tantrums," he deadpanned, repeating her sister's words. There was a tense silence in the room.

Temari ran her hand through her hair in frustration. "You have been moody and sulky ever since Hinata and Ryuu went to Konoha a week ago," Temari growled. She saw Gaara perk up at their names. "And I cannot take any more of your ups and downs. I'm planning on spending some time at Hyuuga residence before coming back to Suna with them. They are supposed to come back in few days anyway."

Gaara gave her an apathetic stare. "Okay."

She stared at him, stunned that he would agree when she half-expected him to say that there was no point in her going to Konoha and that mission was ridiculously easy, not worth sending one of the strongest kunoichi. She saw him write something in the scroll and then write another small note in a piece of paper. She saw him roll up the scroll and fold up the small piece of paper. "That's for Hinata," Gaara said as he pointed to the smaller piece.

Temari shook her head in exasperation. "Really…it's amazing how one person can change so much," she commented, off-handedly.

She saw Gaara give her a brief, tiny smile before turning back to his work. She let a small smile show as she closed the door to his office to head to Konoha.

After Temari delivered the message to Hokage, she headed to Hyuuga residence. Hinata carried Ryuu while Temari carried tea as they settled down in the garden. Hinata looked at the piece of paper that Temari handed to her, as she listened to her sister-in-law rant about how hellish her life was a week before.

"He wouldn't even talk to me whenever I tried to get him to do something. I see why Tsunade-sama relied so heavily on sake because really, it's just too much to handle when I have to pick up after my brothers all the time," Temari rambled on as both of them sat at the garden with tea in front of them. "I think I have aged at least 10 years ever since Gaara became the Kazekage."

"Ryuu," Temari said to the child that she was holding. "When you grow up, I hope that you are nothing like your dad."

Hinata smiled and unfolded the piece of paper carefully. In it, words were carefully written in his handwriting. ' _Come back earlier._ ' There was a smaller note to the side in the corner scribbled in less fanciful handwriting as if he was almost embarrassed to write it down. ' _Miss you._ ' She smiled as he imagined him pausing before writing it down quickly.

"Gaara wants me to come back early," Hinata said, as she looked at Temari cooing over her baby.

"Oh, does he now?" Temari asked. She sighed, shaking her head. "Sometimes, I wonder if this is really my brother that I have known my whole life. It's rather unsettling sometimes."

Hinata sipped her tea quietly. "Is it a good change?" Hinata looked at Ryuu smiling and gurgling. He reminded her so much of her husband.

There was a pause until Temari said, quietly, "Yes." Temari looked at Hinata and back at Ryuu. She let out a genuine smile. "Yes, it is."

 **GxHxGxH**

 **\- NightKDuet**


End file.
